Nowadays numerous different systems are incorporated in motor vehicles, and their number will increase as time goes by; examples of such systems are the electronic engine controls, the electronic transmission controls, the ASR (drive slip regulation) and ABS (anti-blocking system) functions, the shift strategy controls, the level adjustment, etc.
In this, the situation can arise that the functions have a reciprocally negative influence on one another; furthermore, the allocation of control and regulation algorithms to functional modules often takes place unsystematically. This in turn means that an extension of the function structure is very time-consuming and expensive.
Owing to the multiplicity of systems used, some of which act on the same vehicle components, for example comfort and driving stability functions which both influence the shock-absorbers, a defined optimum cooperation of these systems is necessary in order to ensure safe and comfortable driving behavior.
From the prior art, methods or systems are known for the control and/or regulation of motor vehicle components. For example, in the context of DE 411 10 23 A1 a system is described, which consists of elements for carrying out control operations related at least to the engine output, the drive input power and the braking process, and elements that coordinate the cooperation of the said elements for carrying out control operations, the elements being arranged in the form of a hierarchy so that elements at one level of the hierarchy can act upon elements at the next level of the hierarchy.
In addition, from DE 198 38 336 A1 a system for controlling the movement of a motor vehicle is known, which consists of several levels such that at least one component for controlling the vehicle's movement is provided at a first level, which as a refinement contains at least one positive drive component and brakes at a second level. Further, at a third level this component is structured into two individual components, drive and braking system. In this system, the components can communicate with one another to exchange information.
Thus, in these known methods there is a rough structuring for functions of the drive train and braking system; the functional structure is organized as a tree structure, which restricts the cooperation of the functions, particularly in relation to the specification of required operating modes or nominal values.
Furthermore, in the known approaches the structuring of control and/or regulation functions that act upon lower structural levels, and the details of the communication relationships between the functions, are not defined.
The purpose of the present invention is to indicate a method for interlinking regulation and/or control functions in a motor vehicle, which avoids the disadvantages typical of the prior art.
In particular the intention is to indicate a defined prescription for establishing a function and communication structure down to lower hierarchy levels. In addition the structure produced by the method should be interlinked in a failure-resistant manner, so that the control functions remain active when communication is defective or when other functions fail. A further aim is to enable easy extension to additional control and/or regulation functions, without modifying the existing structures.